Consumers unaware of new top-level domains

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Consumers unaware of new top-level domains

75% of UK and US consumers oblivious to new Web extensions

by Shukti Sarma 29 MAR 2013

Despite the recent brouhaha about new proposed web domain names, UK and US customers seem to be oblivious to the concept of seeing their favourite brands get domains of their own.
Afilias Limited, a global provider of domain registry services, today announced the results of research on consumer attitudes towards the hundreds of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)- which show that 75% of UK and US customers are now aware of new extensions; including those of heavyweight brands like Google, Nike and Microsoft.

At this moment, the major online initiative where companies like Google, Microsoft, Nike and Amazon will create and use their own “dot Brand” domains to promote their websites has fallen on deaf ears among the UK and US public.

The program, in which more than 1,000 new gTLDs will be launched by organizations and household brands around the world, was only known by 21% of UK adults and 22% of US adults. Internet governing body ICANN created the New gTLD program to foster innovation and improve consumer security on the Internet, but the research revealed that 73% of UK adults would prefer to visit traditional Web addresses like www.adidas.com/shop rather than “www.shop.adidas.” In the US, 61% of adults would prefer to use a “heritage” gTLD.

The results have been published in Afilias’ “dot Brand or dot What?” report, which polled 2,000 UK and 2,000 US consumers in conjunction with YouGov, examining perceptions about and understanding of the new gTLDs.

“The advent of new gTLDs coming over the months ahead will result in major changes to the Internet. Some of the world’s best-known companies will roll out a dot Brand extension, but our research shows consumers are unaware that these changes are coming and would avoid the new gTLDs due to their unfamiliarity. However, the new gTLDs offer consumers great benefits, such as reducing the risk of purchasing counterfeit goods online. Our research demonstrates that businesses need to seriously consider the ways that they will integrate the new gTLDs into their online strategies and how they will educate consumers about their benefits,” said Roland LaPlante, CMO, Afilias.

The survey also found that UK and US consumers have trepidation concerning Internationalized Domains Names (IDNs), domains that use non-Roman characters (as in Russian, Chinese and Devanagari.) Only eight% of UK and US consumers recognized IDNs as domains designed for foreign-language communities while 65% of UK consumers and 60% of US respondents said they would navigate away from IDNs. This figure reaches more than 70% for “over 55s” in both markets.

LaPlante said, “Education is also needed to ensure the growth and support of IDNs. British and American consumers should understand that if domain name isn’t written in a script they readily recognize, it doesn’t mean the site is dangerous. In reality, websites using IDNs will create an improved, more relevant Web experience for consumers around the world.”

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